


Meet the Council

by BreeZ_Claire



Series: Wevid Stories [16]
Category: Glee
Genre: Bromance, Friendship, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-28
Updated: 2013-07-28
Packaged: 2017-12-21 14:11:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/901202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BreeZ_Claire/pseuds/BreeZ_Claire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one where Wes chooses his council members.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Meet the Council

"Good morning fellow Warblers. The time is now 7:30AM and I'd like to thank you all for coming in so early." The Council Head was greeted with a mixture of groans and mumbled 'mornings and chuckled lightly. Thomas Burnham looked to his left and right at his fellow councilmen, Chris and Xander; the three of them nodded before continuing with the meeting.

It was near the end of the school year and exams were soon to be underway. The seniors were busy making their final arrangements for college and university, saying their congratulations and goodbyes as friends received their acceptance letters to various schools around the world, packing up old memories to make room for new ones, and maintaining their grades for good measure. There were many things to be taken care of before leaving and for clubs and student councils in particular that meant choosing their successors. But while some groups required only one team captain or one coach, other groups, like the Warblers, required a number of leaders; three to be exact.

Xander was Tom's treasurer. Being Dalton's Rockstars meant getting the cream of the crop, but not without a price. Maintaining such a large group meant hours of work in the practice room and on stage. And time is money. On top of practice time, there were many other things that needed budgeting. The furnishings for the Warbler's personal practice room, books and sheet music, bus rentals for various performances outside of Dalton, and tuning instruments like the harp –it was mostly for show, but it was a gift from one of the first ever Warbler alumni— and piano in the practice room, though it were rarely used. Not to mention the feed, cages, and various other equipment needed for the live warblers being cared for by the group and its individuals. The treasurer worked behind the scenes handling all finances smoothly and efficiently on his own, needing only to check in with the Council Head should a problem arise.

Chris was this year's secretary, taking charge of recording the official minutes of each meeting and logging every record into the Warbler's school account. Together, he and the Council Head organized the agenda for meetings and took all the major notes. Tom relied on Chris to catch any small detail he may have missed during a gathering. He was also Tom's communication's man, a comm. specialist if you will, and often relayed questions and concerns from parents, students, and fellow Warbler members to the Council Head should he prove to be unavailable.

In all of his years of being a Warbler, Tom had realized that the positions of Council Head and Secretary needed to be chosen for compatibility more so than the Council Head and Treasurer because while communication throughout the entire council was important, the agendas of meetings and relaying of any information from the students and parents back to the top-man was essential to the club's integrity.

Now, the council overall oversaw up to thirty members, conversing together should issues arise and deciding on solos, performance numbers and harmonies needed in every song. Together they led every practice and began each meeting as one unit because just as the Warblers worked to blend their voices into one, the Council also aimed to act as a united front of their own. However, a flock always needed a leader to give guidance and settle disputes among his people, and for the Warblers that man was Tom.

The Warbler's Council Head sat front and center at the council table and also had a spot on the school board, acting as an ambassador for the group. He met regularly with the dean to discuss club issues while also tending the social, emotional, and physical welfare of his flock at all hours to the best of his abilities. Being the face of the Warblers also meant he'd be a role model from his peers and while the title proved to be extremely impressive on resumes and university applications, the pressures of being constantly watched and judged and looked up to was not for everyone, especially when the name of Dalton Academy rested on your shoulders as well.

It took a special type of caliber to handle the position and according the Tom, this year only had a few eligible candidates.

"As some of you may know already, the successor to the Council Head is always chosen a few weeks prior to the selection of the other two council members due to the heavy responsibilities of the position. The judgement and leadership qualities of this young man is put to test almost immediately in that he assists the existing Warbler council in selecting next year's secretary and treasurer" –it was absolutely essential that the council was composed of three individuals that worked well together. He smiled at the boys in the room. All of them were either sophomores or juniors, freshmen as a general rule were never accepted into the council and the seniors would be graduating so they needn't show up, and took note of the faces of Dalton's future Warblers. It was a promising bunch; however, a strict hand would be needed to control this particular group.

The majority was made up of sophomores, next year's juniors, and if there was one thing the council had learned this year was that they loved to argue.

As students of a school steeped in history and tradition, they were naturally taught that upholding such values was key and often spoke out if anything should deviate from their little square of safety. There were many silent traditions still being upheld to this day such as presenting a live warbler to new members to care for, and the rule forbidding any informal performance settings since the Lucky Lindy disaster of 1927. A great deal of Warblers had fierce respect for tradition, strongest of those among them being Wes, Trent, Flint, and David. But while tradition was important –the Burnham family was one of the longer running legacies of Dalton so Tom knew this well—Tom also knew he needed someone understanding enough to adapt to change when the time came. Losing one's composure due to a simple dispute, or any dispute for that matter, was not acceptable behaviour for any young gentleman of Dalton Academy. He mentally checked off a few names on his Council Head list.

Aside from being elephants protecting tradition like it was their young, there were often many rebuttals regarding song selection, solos, harmony arrangements and much more. There was even a debate earlier in the year on what foods they were allowed to eat before the winter assembly. Apparently Trent wanted to ban all dairy products, causing Jeff and Nick to argue that if the banning was passed, the two of them were as good as gone from the Warblers and "wouldn't ever return ever again ever…ever!" There were a number of walk-outs due to shoes not lining up or something but at that point Tom had just stopped listening. Long hours had been put on record as debate time due to the group's inability to reach compromise.

To say the least, the council was exhausted.

Luckily for Tom, a returning Council Head of two years, it helped that he was a senior now and had thus been well trained on how to deal with such situations. Even Chris and Xander were leaders themselves, being captain of the soccer team and student council president respectively. All three of them had been Warblers for all four years. As far as they were concerned, whoever stepped up as Head Councilman this year had better be one Hell of a five-star general. And luckily for them, however unlikely for future Warblers, they'd found just that.

Tom took a breath before continuing. "It gives me great pleasure in introducing next year's Council Head, Warbler Wes Montgomery."

 

_**~ xXx ~** _

__

"Think you made the right decision?" Xander asked as he tucked away his clipboard. The meeting had ended with a thunder of polite applause and patted backs and now the council sat back and watched as the last few stragglers made their way out.

"Positive," Tom stated confidently, and then smiled when the boy made a face. "O ye of little faith."

"Mad, bro?" Chris leaned over the Council Head, forcing his friend into an uncomfortable slumped sitting position. Tom laughed and reached behind him, wrapping the Latino in a backwards hug while attempting to sit up straighter. "You seemed all for it when we talked yesterday."

"I'm just saying." The blond leaned back, crossing his arms as he surveyed the now empty practice room, "The guy seems a little up-tight is all."

"My my my, is Xander actually saying that there's someone more up-tight than he?" Chris gasped in mock surprise and ducked when Xander flung an eraser at him. He rounded the large desk and swiped Xander's bag, holding up far beyond the shorter boy's reach. Tom stood up and tweaked both boys by the ears, stopping the fight before it could begin. He could understand the boy's point of view though.

Wesley Montgomery, even when he was just a freshman, could take anyone to school on almost every academic subject and had followed through with that reputation ever since. He was quick-witted, loyal, and always prepared. But even with his outstanding school record and position on various school clubs and committees, there was always a little something about the young boy that had never clicked right. If it wasn't in the way students backed away from the Asian whenever he won a debate, it was in the way that no one dared speak out against him when he spoke. Not that he had a bad family name, no, quite the opposite. The Montgomery's were one of the better known names on Dalton's Alumni Hall and Walkway and the family was highly respected by many. That respect, however, could quickly be turned into fear when one knew only the family name but not the boy.

There was one thing that Tom had learned during his two years of being a council member and his four years of being a Warbler: the council, though it was their duty to act as show choir moderators, had to be approachable. Wes could be exactly the leader the council needed for years to come, if only his fellow Warblers didn't fear him as much as they respected him.

There was one boy, however, that never seemed to be phased by Wes' over-the-top strict behaviour or his reputation and name.

"Why else do you think I want David on the council?" Before the Asian had left the room, Tom had given him a briefing on the council's list of potential council candidates, giving their newest member a few days to lull over names before coming to a final decision. It was an important tradition for the old council to allow newly appointed Council Heads to choose their own left and right –wingmen, but only after having been given an approved list of eligible Warblers. They had given Wes a choice of five: Flint Wilson, Thaddeus Harwood, Jessie Martin, Luke Wright, and David Thompson.

"Because you think that if the Warblers have a councilman that talks more than they do and rages almost as much as he breaks into laughing fits then maybe, just maybe, the boys will be too confused to bicker anymore?" Xander muttered as he rubbed his ear. Chris bopped him on the head.

"David is the king of social butterflies and he's friends with the entire school. Heck, even the dean smiles when he sees the boy sent to his office. If we have someone like Wes as Council Head, who's going to dare approach the council with solo auditions or suggestions if they're too scared of spontaneously combusting under the guy's glare? Warbler guts flying around every which way…"

"Thank you oh so much for that mental image," Xander dryly replied. Chris rolled his eyes before continuing.

"If you have a lion, you need a lion tamer-"

"Don't you remember how bad _you_ were when you joined the council?" Tom jumped in after seeing a familiar look on his friend's face. The 'I think you've gone insane' look that Xander always gave Chris when the two of them spent too long on one subject.

"You mean before you dragged me to your uncle's crazy circus camp for spring break?"

" _I_ wasn't the one who made three Warblers cry on their first day!"

"They were being idiots."

"They were freshmen."

"Asking what the Hell a warbler was, _after_ auditioning and being accepted as one of the Dalton Academy Warblers." Tom rolled his eyes, deciding to switch topics before going down another long road. He smiled.

"As I recall," Tom teased with a poking finger. "You had a fabulous time on the flying trapeze." Chris struggled to cover up a laugh, leaning into Tom's shoulder as the blond stared at the two before rolling his eyes.

"The unicycle was the best." He let a smile slip, only to be rewarded by two bodies jumping on him, laughing and shouting sly remarks. The three boys tackled one another out into the hall, stumbling and cursing over the practice room steps –which were unanimously decided to be completely and utterly useless and above all, a safety hazard— before being shushed by a passing teacher. They laughed, burying their snickers into each other's blazer as they slowly but surely made their way to class.

* * *

_[A few months later…]_

Thad braced himself when the group of Warbler began to frenzy in excitement. A loud bang made more than a few members jump and David had to place a hand over the Council Head's wrist to keep the man from threatening silence via pointing a gavel. Again. Thad sighed but smiled all the same. It had become quite clear that Wes had taken a little too much pleasure and assurance in the little wooden hammer and sound block. It was unhealthy. Really. And it was scaring a lot more than just the freshmen.

"Welcome everybody and a special welcome to our newest members to our first official Warblers meeting of the term. The time is now 3:14PM. Let this Warblers meeting commence." Wes grinned and Thad suppressed a laugh as a few boys visibly paled. In Wes' defence, he really had been working on it. Before the meeting began, David and Wes had spent a good half hour on his 'smile' as Thad set up the room.

" _Smile, Wes."_

" _I_ am _smiling!"_

" _No, you're baring your teeth. Like this," David grinned wide, an exaggeration of pearly white teeth and crinkled eyes. "See?"_

" _You look ridiculous David." Wes frowned._

" _And_ you _look like Cujo!"_

They'd made progress though, or at least David had hoped. After Wes had been appointed his new position and David had been selected as secretary –which required a little begging and grovelling and gifts in the form of carrot sticks—the two began spending more and more time together to work on each other's 'quirks.' Because according to David, Wes needed to be friendlier and more open to people ("Have you read to the rules and regulations manual on uniform protocol?" "Wes, only you read the rules and regulations manual on uniform protocol. Now stop yelling at the freshmen!") and according to Wes, David had the attention span of goldfish ( "I can't study anymore, my brain is dying. It's dying, Wes! Dying!" "We've been studying for twenty minutes. Sit!" "But Wes—" "Damn it David." "Hey, there's an ant on my paper.").

Thad had been an easy choice for treasurer. His father was an accountant so money management was in his blood. David, on the hand, was a leap of faith. The three of them had been sitting in study hall when David let out a frustrated sigh, obviously not dropping the subject he and Wes had discussed not five minutes prior. Thad had just ducked his head, not wanting to get involved.

" _I can help teach choreography, I can keep in touch with everyone in Dalton, Wes. Why do you think Ricky asked me to ask you about joining the debate team instead of coming to you himself? Because everyone's intimidated by you! I talk—"_

" _I know you do." David rolled his eyes and, standing, placed his hands on either side of the desk, making Wes pause and look up._

" _Why? This can't be about grades because we both know that in order to even be considered for a council position, a student needs at least a 3.0 GPA. I have a 3.7!"_

" _And exactly how much of your GPA is because of me sitting by your side reminding you to put your head down and focus?" Wes looked him right in the eyes. "You lack focus David. Being one of the top students at Dalton doesn't change that. How am I supposed to trust your council decisions when you can't even decide which pudding flavour you want for lunch?"_

" _You get chocolate—"_

" _And you get vanilla and we switch halfway through, I know, I know." Wes crossed his arms. "You talk uncontrollably, and you're incredibly unorganized. You do realize that the position you want includes keeping track of log sheets and agendas right?"_

" _And do you realize," David jabbed a finger into the boy's jacket lapel. "That a leader is only as strong as his people? People talk to me, Wes, they don't talk to you. They're scared." He sighed when the boy winced. He lowered himself back into his chair and continued in hushed tones. "You were raised a certain way, but you can't treat students the same way you treat politicians and company managers, well spoken and professional as you are, not everyone is like that. You'd be a great Council Head Wes. You don't boss people around and always look at the majority vote before making the final call. But what good is respect and leadership if your followers won't talk to you because they're so intimidated by you?"_

It was the same day that Wes had to make his choice on his councilmen and Thad had been one of the first few to see the duo's little transformation following that talk in study hall. No one really knew what happened between the two after exams, during summer vacation, but when school opened that fall both Wes and David had considerably chilled out in their own ways. Sure the two were still inseparable as before, but the friendship had always been a little odd to Thad. What with Wes making his way through the hall of students who parted for him like the Red Sea, and David bouncing around him talking happily about something, seemingly oblivious to the fact that only he could ever get Wes relaxed enough to smile or laugh in his rare, goofy sort of way.

After David began working with Wes to improve his people skills, Thad noticed a subtle shift in the Asian. Wes, while still formal as ever, had an aura of calmness around him. Students began coming up to him; asking him to sign their petition or speak on behalf of their club to the school board. He was also no longer David's social tag-along, being called out in the cafeteria line-up by a group saving a spot for him not because he was with David and David would have to drag him over due to the table not being their 'usual spot' and Wes loved routine, but because they wanted Wes himself. He was asked to help out with Dalton's annual BBQ at the cotton candy station and, after a little bribing on David's part, even joined the soccer team –apparently Wes had a lot of pent up frustration and playing soccer was a great way for him to release it. Who knew being the only heir to the world's largest shipping company could be so stressful?

David's transformation had probably been a little more shocking. He took to carrying around his notes in binders instead of just stuffing them into his bag. After pledging his hate of history class to what was probably the entire school district, Wes took his friend by the ear and crammed as much history into that brain until, a few hours later, David emerge telling amazing fact after amazing fact of the subject he once hated. To Thad, the most incredible part of it all was that David could now sit a full hour without muttering something about death due to studying.

"…and now Warbler Thad will lead the first solo auditions of the year. All auditioning soloist please take you place on the front couches."

Bodies shifted as auditioners took their place while other members watched from the back. Thad smiled and shook his head as the Council Head turned to him, _who knew one person could make such a difference?_ He tapped his pen and flipped through his sheets until he reached one titled 'Audition List' and pulled it out, scanning the names – some familiar, some not. He cleared his throat before calling out:

"Anderson, Blaine."


End file.
